“You never know what the judges are going to see,” Wineland told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I don’t like to let it go three rounds just for that simple fact. I feel that it was unanimous on my side, but they may see something different than you see or anyone else sees.”

The UFC’s bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz, could be sidelined much of 2013 after further trouble with a knee injury he suffered this past spring. That injury kept him out of a title fight against Urijah Faber, and Faber instead met Renan Barao for the interim belt.

Barao won that fight and next will defend it in February against Michael McDonald at UFC on FUEL TV 7. The winner of that bout very well could find himself ready to defend it before Cruz is able to return for a unification fight.

If that’s Wineland, fine, he said. And if it’s not, that’s fine, too.

“I see myself wherever they want to put me,” he said. “Yeah, I’d like a shot at the belt. But keep me fighting and keep me happy. Wherever they want to put me.”

Wineland has back-to-back wins over two other Top 10 bantamweights. In June, he became the first man to knock out Scott Jorgensen, putting him away in the second round at UFC on FX 4 and earning a “Fight of the Night” bonus in the process.

The win over Pickett is one that UFC President Dana White was no doubt watching closely. He routinely mentions Pickett as one of his favorite fighters.

“I’m a huge Pickett fan,” White said. “But (Wineland) looked good tonight. Pickett’s a tough guy, and he stays in the pocket. He keeps throwing. He keeps moving forward no matter what you hit that kid with, and Eddie fought a perfect fight tonight and beat him.”

With Cruz sidelined, other fighters have come to the forefront in his absence. Barao, of course, holds the interim belt. McDonald knocked out former champion Miguel Torres in April. Wineland has two straight, and White said before his fight with Pickett that the winner could emerge in position to get a shot after Barao-McDonald in February.

In addition to those names, Erik Perez (13-4 MMA, 3-0 UFC) on Saturday improved to 3-0 in the UFC with all three wins by stoppage when he made quick work of Byron Bloodworth (6-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC).

White said the emergence of some new stars with Cruz out is just what the division needs.

“It’s awesome – it’s great,” he said. “Nobody’s had more bad luck than (Cruz) has. But we’ve got guys who can keep the division cracking and keep it exciting until we can settle that.”

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?